Love Kills
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Severus knows that Love is a deadly weapon. Love kills people. Very slight mentions of a M/M relationship.


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise. **

**Written for the Disney Competition - Oogie Boogie (A Slytherin) Prompt - Brown. **

**Written for the Phobia and Character Competition - Severus Snape and Philophobia **

**Love Kills **

Severus slid from the bed silently, being careful not to wake the man next to him. He got dressed quietly, pausing every now and then to check that he hadn't disturbed his companion. The man was dead to the world. Probably for the best in the long run. Severus cursed himself for letting himself get into this kind of situation in the first place.

Of course, it could be argued that it wasn't his fault. He hadn't been the one to utter those words, hadn't been the one who had spoiled everything with a sentiment that meant nothing but heartache. Severus sighed. Why couldn't anything just stay simple?

Love.

It was something that Severus had no time for. It brought nothing but fear, and pain, and horrible memories. Love had been the thing in Severus' life that had been consistent, he supposed as he fastened his cloak. Consistent in the pain it caused him. Consistent in the trouble it fetched along with it. Consistently bad news.

Severus avoided love like most people avoided poisonous toxins. He supposed love was his version of an acromantula to someone who feared an average house spider.

Love had killed his mother. Her love for his father had been her downfall. She'd ignored his numerous faults, all because she loved him. Severus knew that while it had been his father who had delivered the final blow, it had been love that put his mother in the situation in the first place. Love had killed her.

Love had killed Lily. If she'd not fallen in love with Potter, she'd have been safe. Severus himself would have hid her better than Potter had. He would have kept her safe. He would have kept her alive. Or maybe it had been Severus himself that had killed her with his own love. If he hadn't loved her, she might not have been with Potter in the first place. Whichever way it happened, Love killed his Lily.

Love had killed Albus. Love of his little sister. Or maybe guilt? Severus knew that Albus had put the ring on because he wanted to see his little sister, and his mother. Because he loved them. It had been love that began the start of the end for Albus. Severus also knew that the only reason he'd agreed to Albus' plan was because in his own twisted way, he had loved Albus. If he'd not cared, he would have refused. Love killed Albus. Love killed Albus using Severus as a conduit for its plan. Severus had decided there and then that Love was not to be felt. It was to be avoided. It was to be feared.

Love was the deadliest weapon known to man, and people just branded it about like it was nothing. Like it was just words. Like it couldn't destroy a person. People said it every day. Every second that passed, someone, somewhere in the world, was saying the word love like it was nothing more than any other four letter word in the dictionary.

Severus had lost anyone he'd ever felt love for, so he avoided it now. He trained himself against it. He didn't feel it, and he didn't inspire the feeling in anyone else. He deflected love like he was wearing a personal protego. He warded himself against it completely. It was the only way to stay safe. The only way to stay alive.

He looked back at the bed one last time before he left the room. This was the last time he would allow himself to share a bed with the man. He would inform him at the next opportunity that their dalliances had been pleasant, but no longer fulfilled his needs. He would be polite, but indifferent. He felt a sharp pang in his chest at the thought.

He didn't want to do that. Severus shook the thought away. His life had been full of disappointments, this was just another one to add to an already long list. Another thing taken away from him because of love. At least no one had died this time. He pressed his lips gently against the brown hair of the man, a whispered apology passing over his lips.

Severus left the little house and walked away without a backward glance. He would return to his empty home, to his empty life. He would continue his daily schedule, and he would forget about this. He would push the thoughts and feelings away, and before long, they would take their place securely in the locked box in his mind, never to be thought of again.

It was safer that way. For everyone involved.

Love killed people.


End file.
